[logic101.net]

shortage is due to the 9 billion government regulations a driver has to deal with?

There has always been a shortage of drivers. I've been with my current company 17 yrs. Once we had a few guys laid off, but within 6 months we were hiring again. Our company even took to an apprenticeships program to fill the slots and we still need drivers most of the time.

[TADSLOS]

This recent report of a driver shortage intrigued me to check into the job and all that it entails. I am tempted at age 60 to go earn my CDL via the local community college, then get on with a firm as a long haul driver to fulfill a long held fantasy of driving a big rig. I am not concerned about the low pay aspect as a new hire long haul driver, as I already have retirement income. Several other family related factors hold me back from attempting it, but if it were solely up to me I'd probably give it a go just for the adventure of it all.

On researching the prospect of commercial truck driving, I do find that the trucking industry business and training model seems awefully flawed in many cases, largely because of government regulations and hiring practice subsidy interference that drives business owners to churn through drivers and treat them like a cheap commodity rather than a valued asset that gets properly trained, gains experience over time and stays with a company. From what I can gather, most companies treat long haul drivers as cheap labor "contractors", not employees, per se. At least that's my perception.